


Encounter

by Cats_Dont_Float



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Getting Together, Late Night Conversations, Late at Night, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-19
Updated: 2019-08-19
Packaged: 2020-08-14 16:21:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20195158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cats_Dont_Float/pseuds/Cats_Dont_Float
Summary: Karkat wakes up from a nightmare and stumbles across Dave in a room on the meteor.





	Encounter

Karkat sits straight up in bed, eyes flying wide open. Sweat shines on his grey skin, and his hair is plastered to his forehead. He sits, staring into the darkness as he tries to slow his breathing, the last few images from his nightmare fading from his mind. He hates this meteor, hates waking up every night with his heart racing, pursued even in his dreams by his darkest fears. Like every night, he lays back down, and waits until he can fall back into sleep again. That's when he hears it: a quiet, sound that seems to be echoing through the walls slightly. He shuffles a little closer to the wall, presses to his ear to it, and identifies it as the distant sound of music. Huh, he thinks to himself, somebody else must be awake. It's unusual for anyone else to be up at this time; the humans tend to sleep a lot more than the trolls, Kanaya is always with Rose, and Terezi is probably with Gamzee somewhere or she's passed out in can town. So, curious to know who else is awake, Karkat slides his feet out of bed, stumbles towards the door in the dark, and heads out into the corridors.

The corridors are just as dark as his room, but by then his eyes are adjusted to the low light, and he navigates the familiar corridors with ease. He can't hear the music for a while, but then he catches a brief echo of it as he turns around a corner. The sound leads him to a door that he doesn't recognise. Not thinking much about it, he pushes the door open and wanders inside. There's a small lamp on in the corner of the room, and though it's brighter inside than in the corridors, it's still too dim for Karkat to clearly see the inside.

"What?" A voice mumbles, and he sees the outline of someone sitting up from the floor. There's the sound of movement, and then the main light in the room turns on.  
"Oh, sorry," Karkat says, flushing in embarrassment as he sees Dave staring straight up at him. His white hair is falling messily into his face, he's wearing a loose shirt and a pair of his godtier trousers, and he quickly shoves his shades onto his face as he looks at him. Karkat feels his stomach flutter slightly at the sight of him, and he tries not to think about it.  
"What are you doing here?" Dave asks. He sounds flustered, and it's obvious to Karkat that Dave didn't want anyone to find him.  
"Sorry, I'm going," Karkat mumbles, and turns to rush away.  
"Wait!" Dave calls. He reaches out, and grabs onto Karkat's wrist, stopping him from leaving. "Stay. Please." Karkat turns slowly, and allows himself to be pulled back into the room. Dave shuts the door behind them, before heading back to the centre of the room. Dave pats the space on the floor next to him, and Karkat hesitantly sits down.  
They sit in silence for a while, and Karkat takes the time to look around. It's a small room, with no furniture, and just piles of junk around the edges of the room. Dust has settled over everything, even the floor. A light bulb swings on a thin wire from the ceiling, flickering occasionally. A lamp balanced precariously on a top of a pile of boxes glows faintly.  
"What is this place?" Karkat asks.  
"Just a room I found," Dave says, "No one else uses it, so I figured it was a good place to get away from everyone else." He smirks at Karkat before adding, "Of course you found it."  
"I heard your music," Karkat explains. Dave doesn't reply to that, instead slowly falling backwards to lay on his back. As he looks up at Karkat, he tugs on the troll's sleeve, and Karkat lays down by his side. Dave reaches to the wall behind his head and hits a light switch, leaving them laying there in only the dim light from the lamp.

"So," Dave murmurs quietly, "What brings you here?"  
"Couldn't sleep," Karkat replies, "Nightmare."  
Dave lets out a small humming noise, and reaches across to gently squeeze Karkat's arm. Karkat blushes slightly at the affection, though he knows that Dave doesn't mean anything by it. Rose has told him before that after a hard childhood, Dave will do pretty much anything just for any contact with people. It's no surprise really that he lets Terezi drape herself across him constantly, and doesn't move for hours when she falls asleep in his lap. Karkat's not exactly used to it, and he doesn't know how to react to it, but he can never refuse those small touches and moments of affection from Dave. So, when Dave rolls over a few moments later, and buries his face in Karkat's chest, Karkat says nothing, and just drapes one arm over him with a small smile.

The music is still playing. It's nothing like the usual music Dave listens to, or the horrible rap he writes; it's slow, soothing instrumental music that makes Karkat feel so much calmer as the sound of it fills the silence. Eventually, Dave rolls back over onto his back, and pulls off his shades. He places them down gently on the ground, pushing them so they slide further away, and then rolls back towards Karkat. In the dim light, Karkat can just about see Dave's eyes. No matter how many times he sees them, he'll never get over how red they are, and it makes him far too happy that he's one of the only people that is allowed to see them.  
"You're staring," Dave says quietly, pushing a lock of white hair out of his face.  
"Am not," Karkat grumbles and pointedly looks away at the ceiling. Dave lets out a soft laugh, and prods Karkat in the arm.  
"I'm just kidding," he murmurs, "You know that right?"  
"Yeah," Karkat replies, still staring upwards. Dave lets out a small hum, and then they lay there in silence for a while. Dave shifts closer to Karkat again, and the two curl into each other without saying a word. It's not the first time they've done something likes this. Numerous times Karkat has woken up in Dave's arms after they've both fallen asleep whilst watching a movie. But this feels different. It's not something accidental, and it just feels right. And so Karkat just lets himself enjoy it as Dave raises a hand and begins to run his fingers slowly through Karkat's messy hair. His fingers gently brush against the base of his horns, and Karkat lets out a small purr that he quickly cuts off with an embarrassed squeak. He expects to be asked a whole load of questions, but Dave simply pulls Karkat tighter against his chest and continues to stroke his hair. And this time, Karkat lets the purr rise in his throat until it's louder than the music.

A few moments later, when Karkat lets out a yawn, Dave moves away slightly so he can look at Karkat.  
"You're tired," he says, "You should try and sleep."  
"I don't want to," Karkat sighs, "It's... it's hard to go back to sleep after nightmares."  
Dave lets out an understanding hum, and puts one arm around Karkat's waist again. "You wanna talk about it?" He asks.  
"Dave... I..." Karkat says, "Wait, no, don't worry," he trails off.  
"What?" Dave murmurs.  
All Karkat whispers is, "No," repetitively a few times, and then he wriggles out of Dave's arms and sits up. "It's nothing," he says, "This behaviour is just kind of... pale."  
"Like, quadrant shit?" Dave asks, "Pale's the like.. friendship one, right?"  
Karkat rolls his eyes and crosses his arms across his chest. "In basic terms, yes, but not really."  
"Well, is that how you feel about me?" Dave asks, sitting up, his back popping slightly as he does. He winces, and stretches out his back slightly with another cracking sound which makes Karkat screw his face up.  
"First of all, eww, don't do that," Karkat says, "And... not really, no."  
"So, how do you feel?" Dave asks.  
"I..." Karkat stammers. He really doesn't want to talk about this, especially not now. "I don't know!" He snaps suddenly, the weight of all the feelings he's been having for too long suddenly too much for him, "I don't know! It's like I want you in every quadrant but that's so wrong!" He puts a hand over his mouth as he realises what he's just said, and his cheeks flush bright red.  
Dave turns to him, and even in the dim light Karkat can see that he's blushing. "Well, on Earth we just call that dating," Dave shrugs, "And... well, if you dated me you'd be dating a human so... if you human dated me instead of troll quadrant dating then would it be so bad? I mean I'm not telling you what to do, and I know quadrants mean a lot to you but... I really want this. I've liked you for so long, and I just think we could make this work. I don't want to like shit all over your troll culture and tell you that you should be doing it the human way, I'm just throwing out ideas here, you know just - "  
"Stop!" Karkat snaps, "Dave, you're rambling again." He takes a deep breath, and then reaches out to take hold of both of Dave's hands, "Sorry for snapping. I'm just tired. But, you like me?" He breathes out softly.  
"I really do," Dave sighs, "You're so different to anyone I've ever met before, and you've made this trip on this shitty meteor so much better. I just... I've never felt like this before about anyone."  
There are tears in Karkat's eyes, and he lets go of one of Dave's hands so he can rub at his eyes. "Huh, maybe it could work," he says, trying to act calm even though he's internally screaming.  
"What?" Dave mumbles.  
"Maybe, yeah just... maybe human dating could work."  
Dave grins wider than he ever has before, and it's such a rare sight that it makes Karkat laugh slightly. "Really?" Dave murmurs.  
"Yeah," Karkat nods, and now he's grinning like an idiot as well. "But, if you're not my matesprit, or my moirail, or my kismesis or... well I mean, what do I call you?"  
And now it's Dave's turn to laugh fondly. "On Earth, we call that being boyfriends," he murmurs.  
"Boyfriends," Karkat murmurs, testing the word out. "Okay," he says, "Dave Strider, will you be my Earth human boyfriend?" Dave lets out a small snort of laughter, and reaches out to wrap his arms around Karkat again, pulling him against his chest.  
"Yes, yes I will," he says quietly.

Karkat stares at him for a few seconds, and then pulls away to wipe away his tears again.  
"Hey, it's okay," Dave says softly, "Come here, idiot." He reaches up to brush away Karkat's tears with his thumb. Karkat laughs softly as he's pulled into Dave's chest again, and he tightens his arms around Dave's waist. "So," Dave says quietly, "We have like a year and a half left on this meteor. You want to make this meteor even more gay than Rose and Kanaya already have?"  
Karkat lets out a sudden laugh. "Sounds good to me," he murmurs, "Could we maybe just... not tell everyone straight away. I'm not sure how everyone will react and I just want this for us for now." He's thinking mostly about Gamzee, wondering how the clown will react if he finds out, and also Terezi. He knows there was something between her and Dave, and he's been flushed for her before. He just doesn't want to upset anyone.  
"Yeah, we don't have to do anything you don't wanna," Dave murmurs, running his hands up and down Karkat's arms gently, and Karkat leans back slightly to look at Dave. With a small smile, he tips Karkat's chin upwards, and leans forwards to gently brush his lips against Karkat's for a few seconds. Karkat whines slightly as Dave pulls away, and puts a hand on the back of his head to pull him closer to him and deepens the kiss. After a few moments, Dave pulls back slightly, and rests his forehead against Karkat's. Dave laughs softly, and Karkat feels his breath on his face.  
"I really really love you," Karkat murmurs without even thinking about it. He knows it's probably too soon to say it, but he's too tired and overwhelmed to care.   
Dave's eyes widen, and he whispers, "I love you too," and leans back down to kiss Karkat again.

They fall asleep not long after on the dusty floor, curled up together and wrapped in Dave's cape. It's not exactly comfortable, but the two couldn't care less. Dave wakes up a few times in the night, and each time he pulls Karkat closer to him and runs a hand softly through his hair, occasionally kissing the top of his head between his horns. Karkat simply murmurs softly in his sleep, wriggling closer to Dave and clutching his cape tightly in his claws. It's always cold on the meteor, but for once Karkat feels warm in Dave's arms.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm terrible at naming fics. Hope you enjoyed!


End file.
